Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher 47North - pub date 2/28/2023. Unfortunately, I am a nitwit and didn't realize this was #2. Whoops. As I am of the opinion that most books in a non-epic mystery series should be readable without having read all the previous installments, I plunged ahead.

Besides the book has some of the best things - New Orleans, atmosphere, Voudou, a mystery-solving Mambo with a found family - so I could not resist. TL:DR - Overall, the book was a fast and relatively enjoyable read but, if I stopped and thought too much, I wanted to howl at how the solid setting/world, the sweet main character, and the high stakes main mystery get buried under the smaller pieces of chaff like a house under tree branches from a bad storm. Those last 50 pages? Unneccesary.

Good points about this book:
1. An impeccable and realistic and evocative feeling of New Orleans permeated the book. The author does a fantastic job painting the city in real colors and not its tourism clothing. She pays attention to everything from the landscape to the sounds and the odors. It feels real and rich and can make anyone who has been there homesick.
2. The author does not shy away from the ugly parts of the setting and is utterly honest when dealing with the long, slow climb back from Katrina.
3. The detailed, researched elements of Voudou. There is no cheapening of the relgion and its practices. It is respectful. It is balanced. It is organic. It is varied. Most importantly, like all religions and all magic and all belief, it can be used well and used badly but the use is not the fault of the source but the fault of the wielder.

Bad points : Well, it doesn't fully stand up without reading the first book but it's clear enough (and repeats enough points a few times) that you can get along without reading the first.
1. The plot and pacing are a bit... confused as to what they want to be. The main plot (the murder, the smuggled kids, what's going on with Ms Vangie's husband) - that all toodles along just fine with dashes of what you think are sub-plots (Reina's love life, Reina's friendship circle and their problems, dealing with fall-out from book one). It's a really good plot, too. It builds from small stakes to big stakes and has a suitably upsetting villain. But then the climax zips by in a handful of pages and you think it's over but the book keeps dawdling on for another 50 or so pages that bulk up those side quests to Big Things which only serves to make the climax smaller and make me wonder where it all is going. "Are we there yet, Mom?"
2. Reina is the sweetest of darlings and cares about things and wants so badly to do right and I rather like her and... I want to shake the hell out of her. This is her second "case". You would think she would have more sense in pursuing things. She nearly gets shot, jumps into things before she has proper protections, doesn't approach situations with a plan B and she fibs her head off left and right to the people who she should be most honest with. The fact that they lie to her as well is just distressing. I am hard-pressed to think of anyone who I feel actually cares for Reina fully and completely and without strings. Maybe Odi. Strangely, maybe Lucien. Call me crazy but I think if you actually love someone (romantically or platonically), you should not be spending half of your time self-editing or lying to them. The fact that she deliberatelly lies to her boyfriend and suspects he lies to her and then she justifies it as being totally sensible is very disheartening. She has no business being with Roman and vice versa. Just about every relationship Reina has is a game of "who has what control over the other person" and that gets exhausting. No wonder poor Reina gets wiped out so much. Reina, girl, it's okay to be single. It's okay to make demands of your friends.
3. ... Reina, I can't believe you honestly dismissed the obvious answer because of THAT reasoning. Are you that prideful or is it stupidity or is there something in this world that absolutely precludes it?

I didn't realise this was the second book in a series but I still enjoyed it immensely. Great characters and a totally engrossing story. Plus the atmosphere was fantastic and I always love a book set in New Orleans. I'm off to find the first book in the series. Recommended.

I‘d requested this book without realizing it was the second of a series. As to not r.go into the read blind, I opted to read the first installment prior to beginning this one. I found the read incredibly challenging to navigate through. From what I gathered, Mambo Reina Dumond is a Vodou priestess turned amateur sleuth after doing her own investigating in a murder involving the object of affection of her client. This book opens with her having resumed her Vodou practice until friend/client, Evangeline affectionately known as “Vangie”, comes to town. Things have gone awry in her marriage as thousands of dollars appears in their joint account, source unknown. With her husband, Arthur, bring a known scam artist, the concern are immediate with she and Reina both. Reina’s investigation into the money furthers that concern as it leads to murder executed in a ritualistic manner. As she and friends, Darryl and Tyka work to uncover the mystery her Vodou skill come into play even more this time around.

A classic noir set-up, an evocative New Orleans setting, and a captivatingly unique detective make THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE a winner, and a worthy installment to its predecessor THE QUARTER STORM. Reina Dumond (great name, by the way), is not only a whipsmart amateur sleuth but a Vodou priestess healer, and it was a delight to watch her heal her community with her wisdom in both fields! I'm hooked and I can't wait for more of these.

Mystery isn't typically my thing but Veronica G. Henry has me changing my tune. Her writing is evocative but it's the genuiness of her characters that really hooks me. They feel like people you might meet while walking down the streets of NOLA, even if their circumstances are a bit, um, unique.

I also deeply appreciate the way Ms. Henry incorporates the diaspora into her work. Not only is she knowledgeable about the cultures and belief systems she depicts, but she handles them with such respect, almost a reverence. African/Black history is not just a prop for her story and it shows in little winks and tidbits sprinkled throughout the series.

Anyway, I enjoyed this read and I can't wait for the next book in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and 47North for the eARC in exchange for this review!

Foreign Exchange by Veronica G. Murphy is the 2nd book in her Mambo Reina series. I did not read the first book, but this one read very well as a standalone; though knowing more about the heroine in this series, would have been more informative.

Reina Dumond (Mambo Dumond), a Vodou priestess, who is a healer, as well as an amateur detective in New Orleans French Quarter. Reina creates spells, tinctures of protection for her clients, as her shop is filled with magic Vodou healing traditions. When her friend and client ask for help regarding her husband, Arthur, who is scam-artist, Reina finds herself once again trying to solve a murder. She discovers a conspiracy, and recognizes the signs on the murdered victim’s body that dark ritual magic was used. Reina will ask for help from other Houngans and Mambo’s in her investigations.

Reina comes across a young boy, who to her surprise, seems to have abilities like her and Lucien. When the boy disappears, the race is on to find him, and together the two of them can help train him. I really liked her friends Darryl and Tyka, who are always willing to help her. Roman, her cop boyfriend, has been busy on the job, so she relies more on her friends for help.

Foreign Exchange was a unique story, taking place in New Orleans dealing with Vodou and a mystery, in an excellent urban fantasy/paranormal thriller. I really liked Reina, who was tough and smart heroine, with amazing abilities. There was so much going on, that you need to read this in its entirety. Foreign Exchange was very well written by Veronica G. Henry.

This follow-up to the Quarter Storm is absolutely phenomenal. Veronica G. Henry is a master of world-building and storytelling. Her take on Southern Black Gothic is very refreshing in this day and time in publishing. She is an auto-buy author for me.

This was a fantastic trip back to New Orleans to visit Mambo Reina. A standout sequel that tests both the reader and the main character's perceptions, biases both conscious and un-, and prejudices. Henry knocked it out of the park with a book that surpasses it's predecessor, which was no easy feat. Where Quarter Storm shines as a peek into the lives of New Orleanians a decade after the storm, The Foreign Exchange both broadens the scope to the global level, while taking on an exacting study of the survivors and the citizens, and how perception can absolutely skew interpretation.

Mambo Reina delights as a stubborn detective, representing the people and issues the NOPD would rather ignore. From the children and youths she works with, to the relationships forged among long-standing citizens of the city and the street, she is a clear voice in the great, the good, the bad, and the worse in a city that survives.

I highly recommend this series for lovers of the Crescent City, magical realism, and plucky detectives.

Knowing which players have now entered the field, I am Super Excited for the third novel.

New Orleans, voodoo and a murder, need I say more?! This was so good. It kept me up trying to finish it because it was so engrossing.
I just reviewed The Foreign Exchange by Veronica G. Henry. #TheForeignExchange #NetGalley
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Before I get into the review, I want to thank both NetGalley and the publishers over at 47North for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I made the rookie mistake of requesting the ARC for a second book in a series. So, I read book one earlier this month and really did not have a good time. I came into this book with lower expectations and I think that kept this from being under 2 stars for me. In this series, we follow Mambo Reina Dumond in New Orleans as she practices her Vodou for her clients and sometimes stumbles her way into solving some murders. She’s an amateur sleuth and uses the powers of her patron gods to help her find the clues and the leads that no one else can. The Foreign Exchange comes out on February 28th and is available for preorder now.

I guess the one good thing about this mistake is that I learned that I am not a Cozy Mystery GIrlie. The way the author had this main character swinging back and forth from the Southern Cooking to the Murder Solving gave me whiplash. I struggled to deal with her cooking something to thinking about the crime. It doesn’t help that she comes up with conclusions out of nowhere. I don’t see how she figures this crime out at all. She does track down some leads, but how she got there in the first place is a mystery to me. I also feel like she has a lot of the same hang ups she had in book one. She didn’t have any character growth between the beginning of book one and the end of book two which I found to be a disappointment. The magic can be cool at times but a lot of it just doesn’t interest me. Which I can attribute to being a me thing and not a book thing necessarily. I’m sure it’s serviceable enough for people who enjoy this kind of magic even when it’s not used in an action scene.

I did find the world easier to navigate in this one since I did have another book in this world under my belt already. I just struggle to figure out who this book could be good for. Cozy Mystery fans, probably, Magical Realism fans, not so much. Fantasy fans, if they also like Cozy Mysteries maybe. It’s such a melting pot of genres and themes that it’s hard to pinpoint the audience for this one. The bonus here is that each of these books is under 300 pages and pretty quick to get through if you want to give it a shot at least.

"A Vodou priestess turned amateur sleuth investigating a ritual murder is embroiled in an insidious case of corruption that reaches beyond the shadows of New Orleans.

After solving a crime blamed on Vodou in New Orleans's French Quarter, Vodou priestess turned amateur detective Reina Dumond has returned to her benevolent work as a healer. But when her friend and enigmatic client Evangeline "Vangie" Stiles comes to her for a spell, Mambo Reina quickly realizes what Vangie really needs is a sleuth.

Something is amiss in the Stileses' marriage. Five thousand dollars has inexplicably appeared in the bank account Vangie shares with her scam-artist husband, Arthur, and she smells trouble. So does Reina. Especially when her investigation into Arthur's likely new con leads to murder. Considering the manner of death and the signs on the victim's body, Reina recognizes it for what it is: ritual magic of the vodouisant kind.

As Reina digs deeper, she encounters a conspiracy exploiting vulnerable youth - one of whom may have abilities just like hers. With the help of her friends Darryl and Tyka, Reina must hone her ever-evolving skills to uncover a mystery that reaches further than she imagined."

Thanks to AMC and Anne Rice I am ALL about New Orleans at the moment.

The book was well written, one could easily drown into the detailed descriptions of everything that was described, and it was well for the visualization purpose by the readers. Though I wasn't aware this was the second book in a series, and I dived in it quite ignorantly because of which I felt a little disconnected with the main character of the story or any prior background knowledge.

But even after saying so I would like to emphasis that it was nonetheless a very enjoyable read with supernatural elements woven into it quite impressively.

Mystery, Vodou, a New Orleans vibe, and a strong female protagonist. This book couldn't have been more fun if it tried!

Mambo Reina Dummond finds herself once again tasked with solving a murder, hunting down a con man, trying to become a mediocre cook, dealing with the other Houngans and Mambo's in New Orleans, and looking after her friends, all while dedicating her life in service to Erzulie AND facing her difficult on again, off again detective paramour. Weaving the hot humidity, music, food, celebration and the slow drawl that is Louisianna into this story, Veronica Henry has created a sequel that does what few do, it exceeds the first in the series.

I loved pretty much everything about this book. It blows right past all the ways that the practice of Voodoo has been misrepresented in media, culture, and film, and dives right into the very spiritual, gentle and kind belief system that is Haitian Vodou, and the American Voodoo. There is magic, yes, and when it rises to the surface, you better hold on to something, but the real magic in this is how Henry weaves post-Katrina New Orleans, with the search and longing for family, deep connection to community and service to it, and a woman who takes no guff from anyone, knows her strength and power and does what she wants or feels she needs to.

The supporting characters are equal strong, fully fleshed out human beings. They're funny, insightful, challenging, and I tell you, the Louisiana drawl is so strong in some of them that I found myself thinking IN the drawl (which was entertaining to no end!).

The mysteries Mambo Dummond is trying to solve, rope you in and make it extremely difficult to put this book down. The curiousity with what is going to happen with the other Voudouisants in the community ups the ante. Sometimes you feel like you can almost cut the tension of the book with a knife. I can't wait for the next one, especially with how this one ends! And if you want to know more, you'll have to just go read it yourself.

Unique immersion into New Orleans life in the Haitian Voudoo/Santaria world of magic, superstition, herbalism, and a Mambo detective of all things. An interesting mix of quirky characters, herbs, food, voudoo basics, and a bit of magic. Different and fun.

This book is deliciously dark and twisting. Highly recommend for readers of thrillers and those that love a compelling story that will leave them a little disturbed and very entertained.

VH has done it again! I loved this book just as much as the first one and I cannot wait for the next one. This is becoming my absolute favorite mystery series.

Tell me the phrase "Vodou priestess turned amateur detective" doesn't make you want to read a book immediately! That's what drew me into this book and I have zero regrets. The mixture of crime, magic, and mystery is a perfect combination. Highly recommend it to readers that love crime novels and are looking for something new and different.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This universe is a little unique in the urban fantasy/paranormal thriller genre as it deals with Vodou in a more positive way with it being the central paranormal element. In this latest, Reina is drawn into another mystery when one of her clients asks her help in finding out why her husband has $5000 in their account. While in the process, she steps in the middle of something even more sinister. The mystery in this almost took a background to the great descriptions, interesting characters, and Reina’s relationship with Roman. She also came across in this book as less experienced and more arrogant than in the last one. I’m also not feeling Roman as much in this one considering the actions that happened (no spoilers). However, this was still an enjoyable read, and I’m glad that Lucian and Reina have found common ground so to speak. With all this and the revelations at the end, I’m ready for the next book in the series. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I feel ambivalent about this second book in the series.

It still has all the interesting vodou background and the cool magical realism, but the murder mystery was pretty lacking in excitement. It starts off really slow compared to the previous book. Then the reveal and climax were a bit underwhelming to be honest.

A lot of characters were introduced, maybe more than necessary. I also felt that Mambo Reina was less likeable in this book. She came off as overly confident in her abilities and the relationship with Roman seemed toxic. I ended up liking Lucien and Kiah more than Reina!

The book ends with a set up for a third book and I admit that I kind of want to read it, despite my disappointment with this one.

Reina Dumond is a Mambo, voudouisant in addition to her practitioner work she takes on cases for her clients. One of her clients wants to know about the source of her husband's recent financial windfall. With a huge payout promised Reina is on the case. New Orleans is such a character in addition to the other interesting human characters found throughout the book. With an intriguing mystery, lots of delicious food and lots of interesting voudouisant practice this book is absolutely something to enjoy.